Hanson: Walking with Fans
Working for a Better Tomorrow One Mile at a Time
While the international music scene may remember Hanson more for the catchy single “MMMBop” from back in 1997, the brother trio have come a long way since their younger days. Instead of teens and tweens filling out venues, they're rocking out to an older crowd – most of whom followed them since their original days – while also doing philanthropic work.
Their newest tour, The Walk, is one that marks an interesting switch for the band. Like the Project:Red AIDS awareness campaigns, Hanson is making a statement about poverty and disease in Africa with their newest album of the same name. Unlike Project:Red, however, they're doing it without huge commercial company back up. Working with TOMS shoes, a charity that donates a pair of shoes to children in Africa for each pair sold, Hanson is doing mile-long walks at every stop on their tour to raise awareness. Each of the brothers has a microphone and leads the crowd through a meandering trail.
Hanson, with TOMS Shoes, is changing the way consumers can help in developing nations. “Even if it's as simple as just buying a song,” as Taylor Hanson points out at these concerts, it does add up. Hanson is selling their song “The Great Divide” through iTunes with all of the money going directly to AIDS prevention in Africa.
Music as Activism
So far, the fans seem to be increasingly happy with this move. While Taylor discussed the recent 50,000 shoe drop Hanson assisted TOMS Shoes with, fans cheered and nodded their approval at the Toronto show. The Phoenix was packed with fans from all age groups, many of whom had braved the snow and rain to do the extended walk with the band.
Even sopping wet, fans and band were highly apparent as they trekked across the city, shouting out and asking people to join them. Though these meetings are a far cry from political rallies, fans approached the events with more than just meeting a band on their minds.
Walking Toward a Brighter Tomorrow
Although Hanson has previously attempted to gain a more mature sound with Underneath -- their first independent record -- The Walk, marks an interesting divergence musically for the band. While Underneath still held obvious holdovers from their non-independent work, with a focus on relationships and lighter fare, their latest album is a uniquely mature blend of darker themes.
Suicide and humanitarian aid, mixed unilaterally with songs more consistent with their older style -- like "Georgia" -- may seem odd but for this album the blend works well. Though “The Great Divide” does not offer concrete solutions for issues of poverty and AIDS, lines like “they say blood is thicker than oceans/still we box our brothers in” touch on major contemporary humanitarian crises. From the lyrics itself it may not be as transparently about poverty, however, the video concretizes the issues exponentially.
With changes in the music industry allowing independent artists greater freedom and flexibility, and a recording company already underway, Hanson has already lasted a lot longer than many had originally anticipated – outlasting other similar bands by years. As well, with continual redefinitions of stylistic and marketing abilities the band is constantly doing they appear to be well ahead of industry “standard” musicians.
References
After the Walk Talk
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